Unseasonably warm temps today, colder weather moves in late Saturday

The calendar says January, but it will feel more like March outside today as a warm front works its way through much of the area.

Temperatures could approach record highs today as a system that brought rain overnight exits and is replaced with south to southwest winds that will bring warmer conditions, according to the National Weather Service. Areas of patchy fog are expected to continue throughout the morning, with cloud cover lingering in the afternoon.

The record high at O’Hare International Airport today is 61 degrees, said Kevin Birk, meteorologist with the weather service. Temperatures this morning already hovered around 52 degrees.

At Rockford, the record temperature for today is 57 degrees. Temperatures were in the mid-40s as of 8 a.m., and were expected to increase as the day went on.

“It’s possible to flirt with the records today,” Birk said. “But one thing that is against us is all the fog and cloud cover. That will keep things from warming up too much.”

The average high today is 31 degrees. The average low is 17.

In McHenry County, the warm temperatures are expected to leave later in the day Saturday as a low-pressure system sweeps across the Midwest. That system could bring heavy snow to the Dakotas and southern Canada.

Saturday is expected to start off fairly warm, with temperatures in the mid-40s, but drop off to freezing by the end of the day, Birk said. Light accumulating snow is also possible late Saturday into Sunday morning in the county as a smaller storm system from the southwest is expected to interact with the cold front.